Dr. Lori Schweikert: The Science of Fish Vision and What It Means for Anglers
Marine biologist and angler Dr. Lori Schweikert joins Tom Rowland to explain the science of fish vision. Lori reveals why tarpon are the superheroes of fish vision, how fish retinas change and heal over a lifetime to match different waters, why a red lure turns black rather than invisible at depth, and how contrast and silhouette matter more than color. A fascinating conversation that connects the lab to the water and helps anglers understand what fish actually see.
Chris Bush | The Speckled Truth, Trophy Trout & Some Gators | Tom Rowland Podcast Ep. 119
Chris Bush is the founder of The Speckled Truth, a trophy speckled trout conservation platform built around the message of take what you need and release the rest. An active-duty Air Force member, Chris talks with Tom about chasing trophy trout, building a conservation movement through storytelling, and why the experience of the pursuit matters as much as the fish.
Matt Budd | Jupiter Fishing Academy, Commercial Fishing & Guiding the Right Way | Tom Rowland Podcast Ep. 116
Captain Matt Budd is a second-generation Jupiter, Florida fishing guide and commercial fisherman who runs the Jupiter Fishing Academy, a hands-on kids fishing camp. In this conversation he and Tom dig into teaching the next generation, the line between following your passion and flooding a fishery with new guides, and how a new captain earns respect on the water.
Hank Patterson: If The Bar Ain't High, I'm Your Guy
Hank Patterson is a comedic fishing personality who burst onto the scene by doing something different and grabbing attention. His motto, If the bar ain't high, I'm your guy, captures how he brings humor and entertainment to fly fishing. He joins Tom Rowland to talk about creating content that breaks the mold.
Lawrence Gunther: How North America's Only Blind Competitive Angler Fishes by Feel
Lawrence Gunther is North America's only totally blind competitive angler, an outdoor writer, filmmaker, and founder of the conservation charity Blue Fish Canada. He joins Tom Rowland to explain how he fishes entirely by feel, how he turned small sponsor donations into full contracts, and how he has fished more than 100 tournaments with over 20 top-10 finishes.
Ashley Saunders - The Dolphin House of Bimini, Bahamas
Sitting inside the Dolphin House in Bimini, I talk with Bahamian historian, poet, and self-taught artist Ashley Saunders about the 26-year monument he built by hand from recycled materials, his family's deep roots across the Bahamas and Key West, and growing up around Ernest Hemingway.
EagleEye Fred: Fishing and Life in Bimini, Bahamas
EagleEye Fred joins Tom Rowland to talk about fishing and life in Bimini, the Bahamian island closest to the Florida coast and a legendary jumping-off point for big-game and flats anglers. The two trade stories about the water, the culture, and what makes Bimini such a special place to fish.
Captain Bouncer Smith: The Art of Giving Back
Captain Bouncer Smith has committed his life to sharing fishing with others through articles, radio shows, seminars, and decades of trips aboard his boat, Dusky 33. He joins Tom Rowland to share stories of introducing kids and adults to the excitement of fishing, from catching bait to landing monster tarpon and marlin.
Bouncer Smith | The Art of Giving Back | Tom Rowland Podcast Ep. 101
Capt. Bouncer Smith is a legendary South Florida sport fishing captain with more than fifty years guiding out of Miami Beach. A returning guest and master storyteller, Bouncer joins Tom dockside at dawn to talk about a lifetime on the water and the art of giving back, taking kids fishing, buying a young angler her first rod and reel, and passing the sport forward.
Noah Ohlsen - Happy But Hungry as the 2nd Fittest Man on the Planet
CrossFit Games athlete Noah Ohlsen - 2nd Fittest Man on the Planet in 2019 - on his Happy But Hungry mindset, competing at the top against Mat Fraser, staying positive under pressure, and building one of the most loyal followings in fitness.
David Mangum - The Mad Scientist of Tarpon Fishing
David Mangum, the Florida Panhandle guide many call the mad scientist of tarpon fishing, joins me to talk about the analytical obsession behind chasing tarpon, leaving art school to chase the guide life, and what the Mexico Beach area looked like after Hurricane Michael.
Chris Dombrowski - Body Of Water
Chris Dombrowski, Montana fly fishing guide, poet, and author of Body of Water: A Sage, a Seeker, and the World's Most Elusive Fish, joins me to talk about David Pinder, the first bonefish guide in the Bahamas, and how a fish most islanders considered worthless built a 150-million-dollar industry. We also get into Hurricane Dorian's toll on Grand Bahama, the fish-with-a-guide debate, and the writing life.
Jeff Maggio, the Lunkerdog: Miami Tarpon, Early YouTube, and a Life on the Water
Captain Jeff Maggio, the Lunkerdog, joins Tom Rowland to talk about a life on the water. Jeff guides for tarpon on the Miami River and was one of the earliest adopters of online fishing media. He shares why the Miami to Fort Lauderdale stretch holds tarpon year-round, why no one has tarpon figured out after four decades, how he grew up inside South Florida's tight fishing community, and how he became an early YouTube pioneer uploading clips over dial-up long before social media existed.
Hunt Jennings: Keeping Cool While Plummeting Over 100-Foot Waterfalls in a Kayak
Professional kayaker Hunt Jennings joins Tom Rowland to talk about running extreme waterfalls over 100 feet. Hunt shares what goes through his mind before dropping over a 70 to 80 foot waterfall that lands against a rock shelf, the extensive safety planning these runs require, and the mental framework he uses to stay calm and decide whether he is doing something for the right reason. Recorded the week Tom took his son to college, it is a conversation about composure and high-stakes decisions.
Miles Burghoff: Making the FLW Tour, the MLF Shake-Up, and the California Fires
FLW Tour pro and Sweetwater host Miles Burghoff joins Tom Rowland during a breakout year. Miles explains how he performed at Sam Rayburn with no local knowledge, breaks down the differences between FLW, B.A.S.S., and the rising Major League Fishing, and shares how he doubled his sponsorship by learning what companies need. He also talks about his deep connection to Paradise, California, the town hit hardest by the devastating 2018 Camp Fire.
Jessica "Dixie" Mills: Triple Crown Thru-Hiking the AT, PCT, and CDT
Jessica "Dixie" Mills of Homemade Wanderlust joins Tom to tell how a biosystems engineer who had never spent a single night backpacking quit her job, cashed in her retirement, and walked nearly 8,000 miles to complete the Triple Crown of long-distance hiking: the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. She walks Tom through finishing a snowy, icy Katahdin after six and a half months on the AT, swimming raging snowmelt rivers in a 200% snow year in the Sierra Nevada, hiking alone as a woman, where the trail name Dixie came from, and why she believes it is never too soon to quit making excuses and chase the thing you actually want to do.
Rob Chapman: Outdoors360, Marine Art, and Telling Stories People Listen To
Rob Chapman is the creator of Outdoors360, an IGFA world record holder, marine artist, outdoor columnist, and tournament-winning angler. He joins Tom Rowland to talk about marketing and branding in the outdoor space and how to tell stories that people will actually stop and listen to.
Dr. Layne Norton: Fat Loss Forever and the Science of Keeping Weight Off
Dr. Layne Norton holds a PhD in nutritional sciences, is an IFBB pro bodybuilder and former world-record raw powerlifter, and founded BioLayne. In this episode he joins me in his garage gym in Saint Petersburg to walk through his book Fat Loss Forever: why the real problem is not weight loss but relapse, what the 5% who keep weight off do differently, why the best diet is the one you can sustain, how to set up a diet protein-first, why calories in versus calories out is like gravity, and the mindset reframe that changed how he runs his life.
Russell Kleppinger: 814 Tarpon in One Year and the Science of Tarpon Vision
Captain Russell Kleppinger caught 814 tarpon in a single year — a number that stopped me in my tracks — and he credits much of it to an obsession with how tarpon actually see. In this episode he walks me through the vision science he has learned from researchers: that tarpon may see dramatically better than humans, develop five types of cones to our three, detect ultraviolet light, and even tell individual people apart. He explains how that knowledge reshaped his fishing strategy and how he put it to work to land that staggering number of tarpon in one year.
Shannon Estenoz and Captain Josh Greer - The Future of the Everglades | Tom Rowland Podcast
Governor DeSantis made a bold move 48 hours into office — calling for the entire South Florida Water Management District board to resign and committing $2.5 billion to Everglades restoration. In this roundtable, Shannon Estenoz of the Everglades Foundation, guide and shop owner Captain Josh Greer, and Daniel Andrews of Captains for Clean Water sit down to talk about what that means for the future of the Everglades.
Matt & Kyle: New Year Resolutions and the Power of Your Inner Circle
Matt and Kyle join me for a conversation about New Year resolutions and the power of your inner circle, how to set goals you will actually keep, how discipline gets built one decision at a time, and why the people around you shape what you become.
Josh Cash | Green Card: An Irishman's Road to America | Tom Rowland Podcast Ep. 73
Josh Cash is an Irishman who moved to America, married an American, and went through the long process of getting his green card. A close friend and training partner of Tom's, Josh shares his firsthand account of legal immigration, the first person in his family to finish high school and college, and what it took to build a new life in the United States.
Hunter Jackson - Making His Dreams a Reality | Tom Rowland Podcast Ep. 68
My son Hayden Rowland is friends with Hunter Jackson and told me to look into what he was doing. I later met Hunter's dad and saw how supportive he was of his son's passion. In this episode, Hunter talks about chasing a career in the outdoors as a young person, the role of a family that believes in you, and what it takes to start making your dreams a reality.
Elliot Sudal - Viral Shark Video, The Raft Survival Show & Shark Conservation
Elliot Sudal, known as @acksharks, tells me how one viral surfcasting video on Nantucket sent him onto more than 80 TV shows, through eight days on a National Geographic survival raft, and into full-time shark research, tagging, and conservation across Florida.